Anyone been to Leeds, Yorkshire, England area?

[lonetree1353]

DH and I are going to be just outside of Leeds (Follifoot village) for Aug 3-25 with BIL & SIL. Wondered what are "must see" areas and restaurant recommendations. We have purchased 15 day Britrail passes so plan to travel around as much as we can. Any information would be helpful. TIA

[Kayaksoup]

Maureen, i lived near there for 4 years (York). I have good friends who still live there. I will email them for you.

[Aubergine]

my DS's #1 friend is from Yorkshire; they met as students in Japan 2+ years ago, lol, and DS has traveled there (and v/v). let me know here or via PM if i can be of any help.

[Spydee]

Yes, England was my home for four years and I definetely travelled the coutry :) .

Whether you are religious or not, York Cathedral is a must see. There is actually a ton of stuff to do in York; just check out http://www.york-tourism.co.uk/ for the things that might interest your family.

Since you have invested the money in a rail pass I assume you would like to travel around the country and see other stuff as well. Two great organizations that preserve and open to the public many of England's wonderful treasures is The National Trust http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/ and English Heritage http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/. Also google any large city and you will usually find great tourist websites.

Be aware that August is one of the busiest vaction times not only in England but Europe as a whole, so many popular tourist destinations will be crowded.

As far as restaurants are concerned, I am not going to recomend any particular ones, but I will share my tip on finding great places to eat. In England, many local eateries are actually pubs. Pubs fall into two large categories ~ company owned and free houses. Company owned pubs are owned by breweries and provided discounts on the beer to their pubs. Free houses are not associated with a particular brewery and do not recieve any special discounts on beer; thus cannot offer cheap beer. Most free houses provided some type of service to attract customers and in many cases it is great food. Therefore free houses are often the way to go for outstanding food. And a final tip to finding great food just about anywhere in the world is eat where everybody else is eating ;) .

I would be happy to answer any more question that you might have.

Have a wonderful time and cheers.

[lonetree1353]

Linda...thanks so much for emailing your friends..any information would be great.

Aubergine...thanks so much for your offer of help. I have just started to check out the surrounding areas so I will certainly ask if I have any questions.

Spydee...I work at a middle school so summer is the only time I can travel, so just have to put up with the crowds. I figure the trade-off from less crowds, less expensive airfares, etc is, hopefully, better weather. Thanks for the info on the free pubs. DH loves dark ale (not a beer drinker myself) so I think we will probably end up trying out a number of pubs. The village we are staying at has two pubs and a corner store. :D Thanks for the two links. We are interested in anything and I have bookmarked them. DH has been there before but this will be my first visit so I am very excited to be going.

[Ostrlisa]

3 weeks in Yorkshire! I am so jealous. I had a wonderful trip a few years ago, walking (which was sometimes more like hiking) in the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors National Parks. Other good websites are www.yorkshirevisitor.com, and visitbritain.com (British Tourist Board) with lots of information, maps and guides. Leeds is pretty central to accessing the region. If you are comfortable driving on the left, you may want to consider renting a car for exploring--trains will get you to hubs like Leeds, York, etc. but public transportation outside those areas can be problematic.

Of course your itinerary will depend on your interests, but if I had 3 weeks, I would definitely spend a few days in York (with an excursion to Castle Howard); a day in Harrogate (shops and antiques); and definitely get out into the countryside. One of my favorite places in England is Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, a gorgeous ruin of a Cistercian abbey adjacent to an 18th-century park and garden, located in Ripon, a bit north of Harrogate. I did not spend time in Leeds other than to change trains, but it seems like a lot is going on there worth checking out.

Not to mention, of course, Haworth if you are a Bronte fan, "Herriott country," Middleham Castle (associated with Richard III) and many other historic and cultural attractions.

I confess I was not a huge fan of pub food, but it may have been those particular pubs. Tea shops, on the other hand... :)

Have fun and keep us posted on your plans.

[lonetree1353]

Thanks for your reply Lisa. (Hope that is your name :o ) DH will be the one interested in the pubs but I will be the one in the tea shops. If you can remember any good ones that would be great. I have started a list of castles, ruins, etc that we want to visit so I will be adding your suggestions as well. Thanks so much.